


The Escape Of Samuel Tallmadge From the HMS Jersey

by LibertyKingdom



Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 06:04:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9421802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibertyKingdom/pseuds/LibertyKingdom
Summary: What if Samuel Tallmadge had survived his imprisonment?





	

Death was etched upon his face, which happened to be paler than the morning fog. The light was completely gone and the whites of his usually radiant blue-eyes were more of a reddened hue. His cheeks, like his eyes, were sunken in as if they had suddenly become hollow. A soft trail of stubble trailed his sharp but slightly curved jaw-line, much to the boy's disgust. His once golden hair was matted, dirtied, and long overgrown. In short, Samuel was a shadow of the proud Captain he once was. Bites, bruises, scars, blisters, splinters, and filth marred the rest of his skin. His arms and legs could scarcely support his thin and fragile frame. 

But his physical state, believe it or not, was far better than his emotional and mental state. While he had clung to his faith, Samuel had seen, heard, felt, and experienced things that should never be inflicted upon any man.

All of that didn't change the fact that he should not be alive right now. It was a miracle that he had been thrown overboard with the dead but the impact with the water was enough to restart his terribly weak heart. He floated lazily away from the ship to avoid detection. All the while being bumped up against his fellow patriots, whose souls had departed the realms of the physical during the night. The salt water that surrounded him did nothing to appease his thirst, nor did it caress his battered figure. No, there was a stinging bite to its touch, much like having ones hand caught on a rose's thorns and then torn up a bit.

His body washed up along the murky sand beach as if, some unforeseen hand had carried him there. He gradually drags himself as far into the grass and weathered foliage as his muscles, what little remained of them, could allow. His lungs heave with a frightful cough, one that he has had for over a month and that could not be remedied easily. It only seemed to get deeper and deeper with time. He could feel his lungs straining against the torturous pain of inhaling and exhaling labored breaths. Hints of blood found his parted and cracked lips and he didn't have enough energy to wipe it away.

His one cheek pressed against the cool earth, his slender fingers digging into the blades of tough, yet soft grass on either side of him. While many others would have gone on and cursed God, Samuel realized that it was by His Almighty hand alone that he had survived such horrors. Selah had tossed his seemingly lifeless body overboard. Even now, in his freedom, Samuel's thoughts turned to the older man. He was a good friend of the family and as such, his fate concerned Samuel greatly. A guilt singed through his heart like an inferno knowing that he had left Selah to endure the Jersey by himself. Yet, the young Captian was powerless to do anything to change it. He could scarcely lift his own head, much less strike down a fleet of powerful Regulars.

He lay struggling in the dirt. Praying only that he'd not fall into the hands of the Regulars and end up aboard the hellish Jersey again, where they had to fight for food and for air. 

Tired pools of blue hesitantly lifted at the sound of footsteps approaching. The young Captain shivered with fear. He would be no match for anyone much less a dog or even a snake. Try as he might to contain the growling rumble of a cough, it escaped, giving away his location. 

Would the enemy or friend hear the noise and close in upon him? He was unarmed. Would this be the end of Captain Samuel Tallmadge from Setauket?


End file.
